


Ancient History and Open Wounds

by sierraraeck



Series: Aundreya Chambers [20]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Aaron Hotchner - Freeform, Angst, Aundreya Chambers, Behavioral Analysis Unit (Criminal Minds), Criminal Minds Family, David Rossi - Freeform, Derek Morgan - Freeform, Emily Prentiss - Freeform, FBI, Gen, Heavy Angst, Original Female Character - Freeform, POV Original Female Character, Penelope Garcia - Freeform, Slow Burn, Spencer Reid - Freeform, Spencer Reid Angst, The BAU Team as Family (Criminal Minds), bau, jennifer jareau - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:07:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29189043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sierraraeck/pseuds/sierraraeck
Summary: Series Summary: This is a series following Aundreya Chambers and her experience with the BAU, Spencer, and trying to navigate the FBI as a high-profile criminal. And things get very messy.Chapter Summary:  In an effort to save Aundreya, the BAU has to turn to some unlikely allies before it’s too late. Story twenty.
Relationships: The BAU Team/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Aundreya Chambers [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2130924
Kudos: 1





	Ancient History and Open Wounds

We planned for a lot, Niko, Mateo, Roman, Deen, and I. We ran through as many scenarios we could come up with and our next steps for each one. This, though. _This_ we did not plan for.

I was always waking up with some sort of physical pain now-a-days, but this pain felt different. My head hurt, and my nose and throat burned. Not to mention, I started with a jolt, like the panic I felt right before passing out was just put on hold, and was rushing back to me all at once.

I rapidly blinked my eyes open, scanning my surroundings. There was something about it that seemed familiar, even though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. There was dust everywhere and the room was warm, like we were over a giant boiler. There were two windows to my right that didn’t look very functional with newspapers covering them, but the rest of the room looked actually kinda cozy. If I hadn’t known better, I would have said it looked like a mini nursing home for one.

I moved my fingers around a little, then my toes, waking my body up little by little. I was bound to a pole, chains clasped to something above my head and on the other side. My legs were useless as well, multiple rows of chains holding them to the pole. That really only left my midsection stretched and exposed, like a pig about to be roasted above a fire. 

“Morning.” Hot breath scraped across my ear, and I hadn’t even heard the person come in. “I was starting to worry that your ability to resist drugs and such was starting to wear off, but I was wrong.” He finally turned to face me and my stomach fell to my feet.

It was those same grey eyes, those same tattoos on his neck. His hair had changed, gotten a bit longer than his usual buzzcut, but his face was the same. A little stubble along his jaw as well, but it was like I was transported back in time to my first day after initiation with the Cloaks. 

I knew this was coming, I did, and I tried to prepare myself, but there was no way in hell I felt remotely prepared to see him again. I wanted to kick myself for my initial reaction to do whatever he said and get out of this as quickly as possible. But I knew that couldn’t be how this time went. No, it couldn’t be, because I’d angered him much more than I ever had before. Not only that, but I was above him now. I took his gang, had my own ring, escaped a supermax, joined the FBI, and killed his love. I was supposed to be stronger than him. Fiercer. But I felt none of that at the moment. I was fucking terrified. 

But I’d rather die than show him I was still scared, “DeLeon.” I spat his name like the shit it was. 

“We were close once,” he mused, “You know, you can still call me Jamar.”

“We aren’t close now, _DeLeon_ ,” I hissed, making sure he got the point.

“Come on, Aundreya-”

“Chambers,” I raised my eyebrows, “You can call me Chambers.”

“You don’t make the demands around here,” he almost sang. Before I could make a smart comment back, he cut me off with a ‘tsk.’ “I’d stop talking if I were you.”

“I will never take your orders.” I immediately shot back. 

“You know, this could all go away if you just stop fighting,” he replied smugly, knowing very well what my answer would be.

“I will never get on my knees for you.”

He grinned, “Oh, I know you wouldn’t do it for me, but that’s why I didn’t come empty handed. You see, I’ve heard that you have a weakness.”

“Oh, uh-huh, and what’s that?” I probed.

Without answering, he disappeared behind me. He gloated, “That little team of yours.” I heard some clanking and maneuvering, and then he reappeared lugging a massive cart. 

“Trust me, that is not my team.”

“Sure, you say that, but let’s test that theory shall we?” On the cart were three different television screens. He gave me a smile before turning them on one by one. When they buzzed to life, whatever I was supposed to be seeing was dark and indecipherable. “Thanks to Doctor Madden’s lovely hospitality, and loaded bank account,” he gestured at the three tvs, “This was a successful and brilliant set up.”

That’s when I figured out why this place was so familiar. We were in Doctor Madden’s attic. When her mom was sick a few years back, she transformed the attic into her own little care facility, which I only ever visited once. _Oh fuck._ “What did you do with Doctor Madden?”

He completely ignored me, instead, reaching for a small remote that he aimed over to my left side. I turned that way and saw a small camera blink to life, the faint red light letting me know it was on and recording. He turned back to the tvs, his back facing me, and I heard him whisper into what I assumed was his phone. The moment he turned back around, all three of the pictures on the tvs panned out, showing me a perfect view of the outside of Spencer, Rossi, and JJ’s house.

“What is this?” I asked, the words barely making it out.

“Now, you said you’d never get on your knees for me, and I believe you, but would you get on your knees for them?” He was speaking very calmly, which was drastically different from the hot-headed DeLeon I once knew. Which scared me even more. 

We waited in silence while we watched the tv screens. Rossi was having another house party, it appeared, with himself, Aaron, Derek, Emily, Penelope and Tara all drinking and laughing, JJ was at her house with Will and the boys, and Spencer was at his apartment. The curtains were still open, and he looked like he was alone for a moment before I saw someone’s head peek out of his bedroom. Maeve. He was with Maeve. At his apartment, in his bedroom, probably sharing the same experience I once did on the same goddamn mattress. I saw his eyes light up when she coaxed him into the bedroom, and I turned my attention back to the other two screens. 

“In a few seconds, the live feed of the two of us will be transmitted to the BAU’s network. They’ll get to watch and hear everything that goes on,” DeLeon assured. I waited for what had to be at least a minute without any change.

But then I saw Penelope running out to the rest of the group, iPad in hand. She pulled Hotch and Derek aside first, frantically showed them what was on it, and then they called out to the rest of the group. They all grabbed their stuff in an instant, and made their way out of the backyard. The camera angle changed then, showing the front of Rossi’s mansion as they all piled into their respective cars, driving the same way. I turned to JJ’s screen, where I saw her rush out of the house on her phone. She kissed Will on the cheek, then got in her car and sped away. At the same time, I saw Spencer emerge from the bedroom, readjust his clothes, then run to his car. Each person had multiple camera angles on them, and then, all three of them changed to show the BAU.

And then the full force of dread came crashing down on me. DeLeon noticed it too, and started chuckling. “Figured it out yet?”

I swallowed, and looked at him, mouth agape. “You put snipers on them.”

* * *

~2 months earlier~

“Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys,” Penelope rushed into the round table room, stopping all conversations. They’d just gotten a new case, and were confused why she was back already, and so startled. “Stop what you are doing.”

Everyone _had_ already stopped what they were doing, and waited for her to get whatever it was up on the big screen.

“Meet Xena Adaland,” Penelope said, gesturing to the crime scene photos.

“You mean…?” Derek trailed off.

“Xena as in Xena from Aundreya’s list? Yes,” her eyes grew about three sizes. It was a miracle they didn’t just fall right out of her head.

“How’d you pull that off? Isn’t her identity completely untraceable?” Derek questioned.

“Uh, it doesn’t really matter, and yes,” she quickly answered the other question, “But trust me, it’s her.”

“Where is this?” Hotch asked.

“This is just outside of Chicago in an old MMA gym that’s been closed for over three years,” Penelope informed.

“In Chicago?” Emily confirmed, “If Chambers is running, isn’t that too obvious a place for her to hide?”

“Yes, but if she didn’t want Xena knowing any of the other places she’d been staying at, going to where they first met wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Derek chimed in.

“Plus, she’s smart. We’d obviously think she’d go somewhere that can’t be connected to her, so going someplace too easy might be overlooked,” Rossi added.

“Do we think this was just her? I mean, if this girl was one of Chambers’ biggest rivals, she’s got to be smart, right? There’s no way she would have let herself be lured into a trap that obvious without other people being involved,” JJ offered.

“I’m not so sure,” Rossi mused. “I think there is a lot about Chambers we don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did that all on her own.”

“And come on. She had all that time in prison to plan something like this,” Derek said. “Plus, she used to be, and obviously still is, one of the highest profile criminals ever.”

“Prentiss, Rossi, I want you two to fly out to Chicago and check this out. As for the rest of us, we will be working the other case,” Hotch commanded.

The two of them headed toward the door, but stopped shy. They’d all been thinking this, but Rossi was the one who voiced it, “And the kid?”

‘The Kid’ in question was not currently in the room. He had one more day left of vacation, and would be flying out to the team the next day. Spencer hadn’t been handling things well, and just started to round the corner with the team, and Maeve’s, help. This was not the kind of information he needed right now. Not to say that the team thought he was fragile and incapable of handling this information, he’d dealt with much worse and still been able to do his job, but why give him information they don’t know _for sure_ was relevant?

“He’ll be working with us,” is all Hotch offered, but it was enough to relay the message to the rest of the team: _Do not mention this to him. Let me handle the excuses._

Prentiss and Rossi landed a couple of hours later and immediately drove to the crime scene. Garcia told them that she’d called the police chief and he’d be waiting for them there.

“Hello agents,” he greeted, extending his hand.

“Agent Prentiss, this is agent Rossi,” Emily took his hand then gestured to Rossi who followed suit. 

“Chief Welter. This way,” he led them inside the abandoned gym which they could see pretty well in the daytime, despite all the dust and boarded up windows. “It’s pretty bad, but I’ve got to ask. Why’re the Feds interested in some one-off?”

“Might be connected to something else,” was all Prentiss offered. The man just nodded, giving her a slight side eye, but her full attention was already on the scene. There was a lot of blood, nearly dried, that left only a small oval shaped area that was uncovered. There were obvious signs of a struggle, but overall, things felt too clean. I mean, there was a little dribbled blood here, and a small splatter there that could have occurred from the fight, but something about it felt off. It didn’t seem staged, and there was no obvious evidence that the scene had been tampered with, but it just felt wrong. Maybe it was just because they already knew who did it, and they had a _very_ complicated relationship with her. 

But whatever the reason, they continued on as planned. They evaluated the scene, then went to the station to make sure they had all of the pictures and all of the evidence available. The next stop was the ME. 

On the car ride there, Emily asked, “Did something feel off to you?”

“Expand,” Rossi said.

“Like, did something about that scene feel wrong to you? I don’t really know how to describe it, but something about it seemed so _perfectly_ ordinary and _perfectly_ random that it couldn’t have been random? I don’t know if that’s making any sense but-”

“I get what you’re saying. Like everything seemed so staged yet not staged at the same time?” Rossi looked over at Emily and she nodded. They parked the car and headed toward the ME’s office.

“Do you think we should tell the rest of the team about when we saw her?”

Rossi sighed and pushed open the front door, “Let’s wait and see how this pans out, and then we’ll figure out if we need to tell the rest of the team.”

“Tell the rest of the team what?” The moment they heard those harsh words, they didn’t even have to look at him to know they were in deep. Spencer just looked at them expectantly. “Tell us _what_?”

“Spence, look-”

“Don’t, Emily. What the hell, guys! Does no one tell me anything anymore?” he spat.

“We were going to tell you-” Rossi tried.

“Were you? Then why’d I have to profile it out of Penelope?” Neither one had a good answer for that. “So what else are you not telling me, hm?”

Prentiss exchanged a look with Rossi and sighed. “We saw her.”

Reid seemed speechless for a moment before whispering with wild eyes, “What?”

“At the hospital. She came to visit Morgan, Hotch, and JJ after … you know. It was like two am but she was there. Just watching them. And we saw her,” Prentiss finished.

Reid was frozen for a few seconds before asking, “How was she?” All the anger seemed to seep out of his voice.

“Fine. We didn’t talk but she looked okay,” she tacked on, “Physically, at least.”

“So she’s alive?” Reid confirmed.

“Sure is, kid,” Rossi assured.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this,” Reid accused, venom returning just as quickly as it had left, “You know this has been driving me crazy for _months_ now, how could you not tell me? You were just going to let me lose sleep and struggle to figure this out and spin out of control and then solve it behind my back? I can help, so why won’t you let me? You know how important she-” he rapidly stopped himself. He slowly released a breath and brought his volume back under control, not having fully realized he was yelling, “how important _this_ is to me.”

Rossi and Prentiss shared yet another look, then Rossi said, “Okay Reid. Then help us.”

That was all he needed to hear before turning to enter the office.

They were all relieved to find out that, as far as evidence could tell, Aundreya was fine. Actually, she should be more than fine. Not even a single drop of her blood was at the scene. It was like Xena was fighting a ghost, a very vengeful one at that. 

But they all knew that if Aundreya was so worried about this girl that she must be good. And if she was good, there was no way that she walked away without a scratch. 

Emily realized that’s what felt off about the scene. It was incredible, actually, if she thought about it. An entire fight and murder took place that they were _sure_ Chambers was involved in, yet, evidence of anyone else being there didn’t exist. Somehow the scene had been set up and cleaned without even a shred of evidence to show that it had been set up or cleaned. 

It made them wonder, though. They knew Chambers had a network of people she was in charge of, a group only referred to as ‘the ring,’ but they didn’t know anything else about them. Now, however, seeing that crime scene, all they knew was that they were _fantastic_ at their jobs. And it was terrifying. Not to mention, if she was the leader of this group, what did that say about _her_?

* * *

~Present~

The team rushed into the bullpen just after the 10 o’clock hour completely in a panic, but all trying to control it. Penelope already had the live feed up on the big screen.

It was Aundreya, there was no doubt about that, but she looked like a wreck. She was chained to a pole, bruises everywhere and her stitches visible.

“Those should be healed by now,” Spencer pointed out. No one had anything to say about that, all their minds coming to the same conclusion that it was either the man in front of her or Xena that had opened them back up. How she got them sewn shut again was a whole different matter.

The man Penelope still couldn’t identify was talking to her, “I started to worry that this wouldn’t even work, considering the tension between you and the team. I mean, maybe they don’t care enough to look for you, and maybe you don’t care enough about them to make your decisions interesting.”

“What decisions?” Aundreya spat.

The man continued on as if she hadn’t spoken, “But then I remember that I know something they don’t. Something you aren’t even willing to admit to yourself.” He flashed a hateful smile.

“Which is?” she sounded bored more than anything, but their profiler ears could hear the slight panic in her voice.

“You. Care,” the man said it like it was an insult, “You care so deeply, actually, that it physically pains you. And it’s true that you don’t care about much, but when you _do_ , you care about it more than anything else and no matter how many times it hurts you or betrays you, you can’t help but care. That’s why this will work.”

“ _What_ will?” Aundreya sounded like she was fed up with his games.

“I’m glad you asked, and you’ll figure it out in due time. But why don’t you tell your friends over there,” he waved to the camera, “how you got here.”

“A lot has happened, you might want to narrow that time frame down.”

“Think of the biggest reason for me to have you here, like _this_ ,” he hissed, gesturing to her form. Aundreya just smirked at him. “Say it!” 

“Look, if they’re actually watching this, which maybe they aren’t,” she shrugged, “they either already know what I did, or are about to put it together within the next thirty seconds, so there’s really no need for either of us to waste out breath.”

Penelope was the first to comment. “Does she really think that we wouldn’t care enough to watch this?”

A couple heads turned toward her, but it was Hotch that spoke, “I’m not sure there is much either of them is going to say that we can weigh too heavily on.” As much as Spencer, or Emily, or Rossi wanted to protest that statement, defending her character, they couldn’t. He was right. They knew her to lie. Plus, it was in Penelope’s best interest (who were they kidding, _all_ of their interest) to hear that as well. 

Their attention was brought back to the screen when the man spoke again, “Well then I hope they see this.” He walked out of frame only to come back with a small dagger. He reached up and carved an ‘X’ into one of her palms. Aundreya squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw, but other than that, she didn’t flinch. 

“You think that’s going to do it?” she spat, “That’s not anywhere near what you’ve done to-”

Her words were cut off by the sudden sound of skin on skin, head whipping to the side.

“Oh, that?” the man asked, gesturing toward the large scar down her chest, “I’ve got more in store for you than that. Just taking my time. So I won’t ask again. Tell them. You know what else is on the line.”

“Son of a bitch,” Spencer froze in his spot. _This is the man that gave her that? That bastard, I swear to god, I’ll-_

“Spencer, what?” JJ asked, looked at him startled.

He was careful not to say anything that she wouldn’t want them knowing, but rushed, “She once told me about some guy from the gang who, uh, _hurt_ her while she was there. He gave her that scar before he left and she took over. That’s him.” The rest of the team turned back to the screen with a new understanding.

Aundreya dropped eye contact with the man before admitting, “What? That I killed Xena, ‘your love’ or whatever.”

“Don’t mock her!”

Aundreya’s voice was surprisingly level when she replied, “She was keeping things from you, DeLeon.” 

“ _DeLeon?_ ” Emily breathed, “That’s him?”

“No wonder he’s the last name on her list,” Derek chimed in. He followed what Reid was implying even though it seemed no one else did, and he could understand the amount of rage coursing through her and why, even though she was the one chained up, she still talked to him like it was the other way around.

Their attention was pulled back to the screen at Aundreya’s next words, “You think, you _both_ thought, that the other was perfect and aligned with your goals and wants, but guess what? That’s not true.”

“You don’t have a right to talk about us,” DeLeon hissed, but they could see him falter just slightly.

She continued, “You were working together out of necessity, you were both _broken_ , and you thought you loved each other, but you didn’t. She was lying to you and going behind your back and just because you helped each other through a tough time, and supposedly were in love, doesn’t mean that you were on the same team. It doesn’t mean you wanted the same things and it certainly doesn’t mean you’re right for each other. A mutual hate for someone or a mutual goal to ‘get the bad guy’ does not make you compatible, that’s not how it works!” Aundreya’s voice quieted as she took a deep breath, some sort of understanding in her eyes. She looked at the camera for the first time and repeated, “That’s not how it works.”

“Don’t try to send them messages!” DeLeon marched over and shut off the camera, but not before promising, “We’ll be back.”

The team was silent. They were sure she was sending them a message, but they didn’t think it was quite in the way that DeLeon thought. Slowly, all eyes drifted over to Reid, who hadn’t reacted at all since the camera had been shut off. 

_Is_ **_that_ ** _what she thinks happened between us? That we were broken and transferring and not on the same team and-_

“Garcia could you get a trace on that?” Hotch asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

“I’m trying, sir, but he’s really good,” Garcia’s voice sounded watery. 

“Okay, the rest of us need to start on a profile,” Hotch commanded, and they all started moving toward the round table room. Reid stayed cemented in his spot. “Reid?”

“Yeah, um, you guys start that, I’ll be right back,” he rushed, now frantically moving to grab his jacket, without his satchel, and headed out the door.

“Where are you going?” Derek called after him.

“I think I know someone who can help,” Spencer shouted back, then continued his path out the door. They watched him out, but then quickly got to work.

* * *

“I do _not_ think this is a good idea,” Derek asserted as the team grabbed their go-bags. 

“I’m with Morgan. How can we even trust them?” JJ seconded.

“Think about it,” Spencer tried to explain, “The only people who care about her more than we do, is her ring. And that Deen guy already had the chance to ambush you and I, JJ, and he didn’t because _she_ told him not to.”

“Doesn’t mean he won’t abush us _now_ ,” JJ pointed out.

“I don’t think he will,” Emily stepped in, “I bet they’re already working on how to find her without us, so we might as well work together.”

“But we have to fly out to them?” Derek asked.

“We _are_ the ones with the private jet,” Rossi interjected. “And besides, she was taken _from_ Chicago, so there’s a good chance she’s still _in_ Chicago.”

No one else was given the chance to argue because Hotch said, “Dave has a point, and it doesn’t really matter because I scheduled us to leave in ten. We have to go, now.” 

The moment they landed, they headed straight to the bookstore. Morgan made some comment about feeling weird that they weren’t going to a police station or crime scene and is it even legal for them to work behind local PD’s jurisdiction, all of which Hotch or Spencer waved off. When they got to the store, Deen was already outside waiting for them. 

“Come in,” he said, opening the door. It was about 2am and almost completely deserted. “Look, a lot of the people here are not excited about you all showing up, so I’m going to ask you to put your weapons in this.” He gestured toward a safe on the back wall, right next to an ‘Employees Only’ sign. The team exchanged a few looks. “I get it, okay? You don’t trust us, and we don’t trust you, all for good reasons. But we both have a goal of finding Alionth, preferably _alive_ , so please just put them away. I’ve told everyone to put their’s away as well, so let's just all agree that we want brains and not fire power involved here today.”

Spencer was the first to give up his gun, followed by Emily and the rest of the team. 

“Alionth?” JJ whispered.

“Alionth, Aundreya, Cassy, Clara, I don’t know they’re all the same person,” Emily answered with a shrug. 

When it was Penelope’s turn to enter, she just walked right past the safe.

“Woah woah woah,” Deen stopped her, “The pretty lady doesn’t give up her gun?”

Penelope, who had her nose buried in her computer still typing with one hand, looked up at him. “I’m their tech analyst.”

Deen’s eyes grew, “Wait. You’re the Black Queen?” Penelope’s shocked face was all he needed for confirmation. “Oh wow. It’s an honor to meet you,” he extended his hand. Penelope hesitantly shook it, looking over at her teammates who seemed in just as much shock as she was. “Alionth’s talked about you.”

“She has?”

“Oh yeah. We all knew who you were, with your massive skills and all, and were actually about to recruit you when you got hired by the FBI. But when we found out Alionth was going to work with you, we all made sure she told us everything,” Deen was giddy, flashing her his bright smile. 

“That’s … wow. I had no idea,” Penelope stumbled out.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘you found out she was going to work with the FBI?’ I wasn’t under the impression she was still in contact with you,” Hotch asked. Leave it to him to overlook the flirtiness. 

Deen’s mouth ran dry. _They aren’t supposed to know about the deal with Archer._ “Uh… just a little bit. Um, why don’t I show you to our work space.” He turned back to Garcia, “And don’t worry, we already have the type of technology that will be compatible with yours.”

They all started following him, but Derek hung back to talk to Penelope. “Was he just hitting on you?”

“I have no idea, I don’t want to talk about it,” Garcia rushed out.

“Oh my god,” Morgan commented, shaking his head. “And they were going to recruit you?”

“I don’t know, I’ll have to ask Aundre- Alionth, or whatever, about it _after_ we save her life.”

“Right,” Derek replied with a small eye roll.

They entered the massive warehouse and were blown away. There were multiple levels overlooking the main one, and there were so many people watching them as they entered. It was dead silent as Deen stopped. He turned around and gestured for them to stay there while he walked forward to stand in the middle of the room.

“As you know, the behavioral analysis unit of the FBI has joined us today,” Deen started, addressing at least the 200 eyes on him, “This was the unit that Alionth was a part of, and they are here to _help us_ find her, so I expect all of you to return the favor. If they need something, you get it to them. If we need a team of people to go with them for something, you will do that. If we want our leader back safely, we are all going to cooperate as one today. Understand?” A perfect chorus of ‘Yes, Deen’ radiated throughout the room. It sent chills down the team’s spines. They’d never seen first hand how some of these things worked from the inside, and were in a daze that at some point, that chorus was responding to the girl they knew. “Good. Proceed.” The groups of people dispersed, turning back to whatever they were doing beforehand, some even sparring on the mats.

“This is…” Emily started in disbelief.

“Yeah, it is,” Deen said with a nod, seeming to get the point, “She does it better than me, if you’re wondering.” 

They filed into the conference room where three people were already waiting. “BAU, meet Roman,” a short, thin girl with dark hair waved at them, “Niko,” a very tall, young, dark man nodded, “and Mateo.” Deen ended with a sigh as Mateo just sat there, arms crossed, just staring at the group. 

Niko rolled his eyes at Mateo and extended his hand, “Please excuse my brother’s manners.”

“Manners?” Mateo bit, “You wanna talk about manners? How about them walking in here like they deserve our help, like they’re not the reason she’s in trouble right now.”

“Mateo,” Deen warned.

“What? You heard DeLeon! He said ‘the team’ not ‘the ring.’ Pretty sure he’s referencing them.”

“Mateo, do not-”

“It’s okay,” Hotch interrupted. “Can you show Garcia where she can set up and tell us what you have so far?”

“Absolutely,” Deen said, ushering Garcia over to the corner of the room, while Niko took over.

“As you probably know, she went after an old enemy of hers, Xena.”

“Yeah, we saw,” Emily said.

Niko smiled, “We know.”

“How?” she asked. He just smiled at her. “And how did you know what DeLeon was saying to Aundreya? I thought we were the only ones with a live feed.”

“She’s wired, which DeLeon is clearly okay with but, we’ll get there,” Niko said. “She was going after Xena because she figured out that she and DeLeon were behind everything that had been happening, including your imprisonment.”

“What?” Spencer was shocked. Suddenly he wished he’d paid closer attention to Xena’s face. It would be nice seeing with his own eyes who did that to him.

“Yes, and that’s why she took the fall for you. Anyway, she got into it pretty bad with Xena, and walked away with some injuries-”

“What injuries?” Spencer asked.

“Her stitches were opened back up, the ribs were refractured, a concussion, along with a sprained ankle and small cut on her throat,” Niko answered. “We took her to our doctor, who runs her operations out of her basement, to answer your next question,” he said, looking at Reid, “We knew that DeLeon was our next target, but after finding out that his partner, and apparently his girlfriend, was killed, Alionth was also _his_ next target. So we gave her a small wire that would transmit everything said back to us, along with her location. However, while the wire is still intact, he must’ve been smart enough to turn off the GPS.”

“So you have nothing?” Spencer hissed. Hotch gave him a warning look, but was cut off. 

“Guys,” Penelope interrupted, “The feed is back on.”

Looking at the screen, everything looked the same, except for Aundreya who was visibly drenched. 

DeLeon flashed the camera a toothy grin, “I was hoping they would do that.”

“Do what?” Aundreya asked.

“I told you they would, too, you just refused to listen.”

She leaned her head back against the pole, “Fuck.”

“I wonder how they’re all getting along, you know? Especially how your boyfriend is getting along with…” he laughed, “well, your _other_ boyfriend.”

“What?” both Mateo and Spencer asked at the same time. They spun toward each other and locked eyes. Looked like they got their answer.

“What? Nothing to say to that?” DeLeon pouted.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aundreya tried.

“I’m sure you don’t. You never were good at identifying your own emotions,” he commented, “Do they know about your past relationships, though?”

“They know,” she answered, voice hard.

“Do they _all_ know _everything_?”

“What game are you playing?” Aundreya asked instead.

“Why don’t you answer the question? Do you want more of that?” he gestured to her soaken state. She just stared holes through him. “Or do I have to remind you, yet again, of what’s at stake?”

“Why does he keep saying that?” Mateo angrily asked.

“Fine,” Aundreya’s voice came over the speaker. “Where do you want me to start?”

“Where do you think?”

She rolled her eyes. “They all already know that I had a dead-beat dad, was seen by the Slaughterer, went into witness protection, lost my family-”

“Blah blah blah. Get to the good stuff.”

“What do you consider ‘the good stuff?’ It’s hard for me to determine the highlight reel of my life,” she hissed.

“How about you start when you met Xena and I.”

“Fine,” she took a deep breath, “I met Xena outside the MMA gym. She introduced me to her grandfather, Rafael, the leader of the gang, and got me initiated. I started dancing and was recognized for my skills as a pick-pocketer and investigator. That’s when I met you.” Spencer and Mateo glanced over at the other to see if they knew about everything that went on with DeLeon and his friends. They shared a mutual look of hate that expressed they knew exactly what she was skipping over. Aundreya continued, “I moved up the ranks and eventually overtook Xena. She wasn’t happy about it, so she challenged me and lost. She was kicked out.”

“Okay so we have one motive for her anger,” Prentiss interjected.

“That and Alionth’s leverage with her grandfather,” Niko added.

Prentiss was about to ask him to expand on that, but as if on cue, Aundreya answered. “Rafael did everything he could to make sure I won, so that Xena would be as far away from the gang as possible. Of course, she didn’t know that he was protecting her, because about a week later, he told me the FBI was closing in. Specifically, the BAU. So to save his legacy, he killed himself and told me-”

“You mean _you_ killed him,” DeLeon cut in.

“No,” Aundreya was adamant, “I didn’t. That’s what you thought, I mean you blamed me for it and tried to kill me over it, but I didn’t. He killed himself.”

“No. You see, I know for a fact that it was you. You’re one hell of a liar, and it seems you’ve even convinced yourself, but it's not true,” DeLeon seemed oddly calm for the occasion.

“DeLeon, I’m telling you, I didn’t kill him.”

“You did. Rafael was a surprisingly giving man, but he would have never done that. You knew your options. It was the two of you at the top and it was either you or him. One of you had to go down and take the fall, so you chose him. You _knew_ that he was going to pin it all on you and give the gang to me, but you didn’t like that plan, did you?”

“DeLeon, that’s not-” she tried.

“Shut up!” he shouted, “You don’t get to talk. You killed him which made it easy enough for the FBI. They believed that the gang had crumbled, the leader was dead, and everyone else scattered. But they didn’t know about you. You slit his throat and told everyone to find you in a few months, taking over leadership of the gang, and then you tried to pin his murder on me. When you couldn’t, you wrote a letter that made it seem like a suicide. You held onto it all these years as leverage over Xena, which she stupidly believed, and then you killed her too.” Aundreya was silent. She just stood there, looking down. He walked over and grabbed her face, forcing her to look up at him. “Say something!” She just stared at him.

He walked out of the frame and returned with a lighter. “You’re pathetic.” He switched it open and brought the flame to her stitches. Slowly, one by one, the flame burnt through the thread keeping her together. 

Hotch looked at the faces in the room, and every one was completely entranced by the video before them. Penelope had tears welling in her eyes, and some of them, namely Spencer and Mateo, seemed to be burning right along with her. To pull their attention away from what was happening, he asked, “Do any of you recognize anything in the room that might help us?”

It seemed to grab most people’s attention, and he could see them slightly snap out of it, and focus on anything but the horrors in front of them. 

It was Roman who spoke up, “Do those windows behind her look familiar?”

“What?” Niko asked.

“Yeah, the windows. A-and the wood floors,” she continued. “You said you checked Madden’s place?”

“Yes, everywhere,” Deen confirmed.

“But doesn’t that look like Madden’s place? I mean the floor pattern is the same and she always talked about her fake windows because of how stuffy it was. Those are boarded up,” Roman pointed out.

“We checked everywhere,” Deen repeated.

“Even the attic?” Roman asked.

“Madden doesn’t have an attic. We looked for an entrance but there wasn’t one,” Niko said.

“Are you sure?” Roman asked.

“I’m telling you, I looked. I didn’t see an entrance.”

Everyone was silent for a moment before Mateo’s face lit up with dread. “There’s a secret entrance.”

Then, without another word, Mateo sprinted from the room. Quick to follow was Spencer, followed by Derek. Niko sighed to himself before taking off after them. The whole group started to follow, but then Deen yelled up to the groups of people, “JT, Dalton! Go!”

Two men jumped from the first floor into a dive roll, and sprinted after them. 

“Wait, Dalton?” Rossi asked. “As in Dalton, Aundreya’s police escort when she joined the team for the first few months?”

Deen nervously chuckled, “Yeah, that’s him.”

“What the hell else do we not know about?” Rossi sounded exasperated. 

“A lot,” was all Deen offered. They headed back to the room while the five men chased after Mateo to the doctor’s house. 

When they got there, Mateo had already kicked the door in, and was taking the stairs two at a time to get to the top level. Derek and Niko were right behind him, followed by Spencer and the other two men.

When they all got there, Mateo started tossing books off of shelves.

“What are you doing, man?” Derek yelled at him. He was in such a frenzie that he didn’t respond. Derek ran up to him and pushed him up against the wall. Like deja vu, he was on the ground in a matter of seconds. “What the hell!”

Niko walked up and grabbed Mateo by the shoulders and pushed him up against the wall just like Derek had. “Why are you throwing books?” It was the first time they’d heard Niko raise his voice.

“I don’t know! All I remember is that the entrance had something to do with the books or the bookshelves or _something_!” Mateo fired back.

Niko released him and returned to his calming voice, “Thank you. That was all we needed.”

The four men started tossing books and moving shelves, while Niko offered his hand to Derek.

“Sorry about that,” Niko apologized.

“I get it,” Derek said, brushing himself off. “You know, Aundreya did the _exact_ same thing to me when I met her?”

“You pushed her up against a wall?” Niko asked.

“It’s a long story,” Derek admitted.

Niko smirked. “I’m sure you realized that was a mistake. But to answer your question, we all trained together. She actually taught Mateo that.”

Derek gave a small smile and nodded, then turned to help Spencer with a bookshelf. 

After about 20 minutes of messing with them, Mateo huffed, “This isn’t working.”

“Are you sure you remember correctly?” Spencer questioned, but came across more like a challenge. 

“What are you implying?”

“Nothing. Just sometimes our minds can make things up when we’re desperate, that’s all,” Spencer said in that piercingly calm voice. 

“So you think I’m lying?” Mateo snarled.

“I didn’t say that. I’m just questioning how accurate your information is.”

“Spencer,” Derek warned, as if Spencer hadn’t _just_ seen him get taken down by the same man who he was currently pissing off. Spencer just waved him off.

“Because, if you just wasted our time, who knows what could be happening to her right-” He didn’t get a chance to finish, because Mateo punched him right in the jaw. Spencer’s head shot to the side, and his eyes focused on the ground. He was about to retaliate when something caught his eye.

“Wait, that’s it,” Spencer said, crouching lower to the ground. There on one of the floorboards were two small Chinese symbols meaning ‘attic.’

“What, what’s it?” Mateo demanded. Spencer ignored him, running his finger over the symbols. They were slightly raised, and there was a faint outline of a square around them. He pushed two of his fingers down on them, and the small square section of the floor went down as well, revealing a keyhole in the wall. 

“Kid, what is it?” Derek asked, much nicer than Mateo. Again, without answering, Spencer rushed down the stairs. “Reid!”

“I’ve seen those before!” he called back. There was a picture frame with Chinese art on the main level that had those symbols painted in the corner. Taped to the back was a single key that to Spencer’s eyes, seemed to be an exact match to the one upstairs. The rest of the men were about halfway down the stairs when Reid came pushing back up through them. He walked over to the keyhole and pushed it in. Immediately, the bookshelf swung open, inviting them in. Spencer looked over at Mateo and arched an eyebrow. Then he marched in, pulling a switchblade from his back pocket.

“I thought Deen confiscated all of your weapons,” Mateo pointed out.

“Yeah, our guns in our holsters,” Spencer shot back. He turned around to look at Mateo, who was also holding some sort of dagger. He snorted, “Like you’re one to talk.” Mateo just shrugged. 

They headed up the stairs slowly, and when they entered the room, saw a female laying on the ground. Spencer rushed over to her and let out a small sigh when he realized it wasn’t Aundreya.

“Oh my god it’s Doctor Madden,” Niko recognized. 

“But Alionth isn’t here.” They could hear the sound of defeat in Mateo’s voice. A screen across the room roared to life, causing all six men to walk over to it. It flickered to the live feed of Aundreya and DeLeon, her stitches completely burned off along with some of her skin. 

“Congratulations, you screwed yourself,” DeLeon said to the camera. On cue, the door to the attic slammed behind them. “Wow! Things just get more interesting by the second!”

“Damn it!” Mateo yelled. Derek ran back down the stairs to try and push the door back open, but the sound of DeLeon’s voice stopped him shy of kicking it down.

“I wouldn’t do that, Agent Morgan. You see, if you try to get out, I’ll just kill her.”

“Don’t listen to him, he wouldn’t,” Aundreya said nonchalantly.

“I would.”

“No he wouldn’t. Look he needs me for some sort of game he’s playing, and it would just kill all the fun if I was dead. So just leave,” she said with a shrug. Morgan was about to listen to her and force his way out when he heard a gunshot, followed by a whimper. Taking the steps two at a time, he faced the screen to see that DeLeon was holding a gun aimed at her foot. Blood was already seeping onto the floor.

“We can’t leave,” Spencer whispered. 

Niko was on the phone with Roman, filling her, and the rest of the BAU in on what was happening. While he was doing that, DeLeon continued talking, “So, where were we? Ah, that’s right, you killed Rafael.”

“I didn’t.”

“It’s either honesty from here on out, or I won’t give you an option,” DeLeon threatened, waving his gun at something out of the frame. 

“Fine. I killed Rafael and tried to pin it on you. But can you blame me?” Aundreya asked, “You know you would’ve done the same.”

“Maybe, but I _can_ blame you.”

“Sure, then, blame me. But you’re only spiteful because it almost worked,” she smirked.

“Why is she taunting him?” Niko asked.

“She has to,” Mateo responded. Derek arched an eyebrow, realizing there were now three of them that had an idea what was going on, some more than others, but they couldn’t miss whatever he was about to say next. 

“You’re smart, wouldn’t you say?” DeLeon asked. She just glared at him. “Let’s say you are. You’ve been studying me and your surroundings for the entire time you’ve been here, but you haven’t tried to send your buddies a message yet. You’re _also_ smart for not trying that. And you quickly figured out what my little game was, but what I’m sure you don’t have figured out is why.”

“I killed Xena and Rafael, made you look like a fool and took the gang that was supposed to be yours. Plus, you’ve had it out for me since the beginning,” she quickly refuted.

“Oh, speaking of, have you told them what went on between the two of us?” he taunted. When she broke eye contact, that was his answer. “You haven’t, have you?”

“Only some of them,” Aundreya admitted.

“So do you wanna tell them, or should I?”

“Go ahead.”

“She and I met and became quite _close_. We actually dated for a while,” he smiled brightly.

Aundreya scoffed, “I’d hardly call it that.”

DeLeon whipped around and hit her with the gun. “Then what would you call it?”

She spit some blood at his shoes before answering, “You’re a coward.”

“Does anyone know what happened between the two of them?” Hotch’s voice came over Niko’s phone. They must’ve never hung up, “Reid, I know you said he gave her that scar but no one here knows anything else.”

Spencer and Mateo looked at each other yet again regarding this same issue, but neither moved to speak. The rest of the group wasn’t blind, though.

“What’s happening here?” Niko asked, gesturing between them. Still, neither responded.

“If any of you know _anything_ , it might help us find her,” Hotch reminded.

Spencer was about to answer when Mateo beat him to it, “He was some super high ranked person in the gang, so when he invited her to some party with his friends, she couldn’t exactly say no. She was new and _super_ good, so he and his friends were … well they were _very interested._ Th-they, uh-” 

“They took advantage of her. M-mainly him though. It went on for all four of the years she was there,” Spencer finished. A deafening silence fell over the room and over the line. 

Luckily, or unluckily, DeLeon filled the silence, “Do they know that you got your best friend killed? How about that the reason she died was because you were high out of your mind?”

“Actually, it was Xena who killed her,” Aundreya tried, but they could hear her voice waver.

“Sure, but it was your fault she walked in there in the first place. If you could’ve recognized it was a trap, maybe we wouldn’t be here today. She’d be alive, and Deen’s leg wouldn’t be wrecked. Sydney’s poor little daughter might have a mother-”

“Stop!” she shouted, finally struggling against the chains.

“There she is!” DeLeon proudly stated, “The angry girl who couldn’t save her friends. She couldn’t even save herself.”

“What do you want me to say? That I’m a monster? That you violated me? That there’s no hope for me?” her voice broke.

“I want them to know how weak you are!” he screeched back.

Then, she burst out into hysterical laughter. It was bone chilling, because despite the gut-wrenching chuckles, this had absolutely no humor to it. She managed between a bitter smile, “They already know that. Oh god, trust me, they know. They know that I’m weak, that I’m a liar, that I’m a manipulator, that I’m a _criminal_ , that I run from my problems, that I ignore them at all costs, that I’m closed off and that the _moment_ I open up, I get screwed over, so I shut down and _fuck_ things up. And if they didn't know that well, then they're pretty shitty profilers,” she let out a couple more laughs and finished, “And pretty shitty friends.”

This totally threw DeLeon off guard. Clearly, that was not the reaction he was expecting. “What’s so funny to you?”

Aundreya finally calmed down enough to casually respond, “Just that you thought you could chain me up and make me look all weak and pathetic in front of them when the only version of me they’ve ever known was the pathetic one. Like, you thought this would come as a _surprise_ to them, but it won’t, and you know what? I don’t care what they think. They don’t know who I _actually am_ and it’s better that way. The ring knows who I truly am and where I belong, and they know the strong version of me. That’s what matters.” Despite how terrible the situation was, Mateo had the thought to smirk over at Reid. Sure, she was under duress, but she’d said it. She’d basically said that she would come back to the ring, where she belonged, and forget about the BAU when this was all over. 

That was enough to push Spencer over the edge. He launched at Mateo with zero regard for how much better he was at fighting, and pinned him to the wall by his throat. Mateo easily removed his hand, and kicked him to the floor. He pounced on Spencer’s vulnerabilities, going straight for his bad knee and gunshot wound. Before things could get too serious, both Niko and Derek were on Mateo, yanking him off of Reid. Even after being shoved to the ground, Reid was going in for another round, but Derek stepped in front of him before he could get himself more hurt. 

“This is not helping anybody!” Surprisingly, it was Dalton who spoke. “Look, I don’t know her nearly as well as all of you do, but I’ll tell you that getting to work as her ‘police escort’ or whatever, was so much fun. She kept things interesting, and neither the ring nor the FBI will be the same without her. So if either of you care about her, even a shred, which it’s blatantly obvious you both do, you will pull yourselves together, get your heads out of your asses, and focus on finding her! Because if she doesn’t get out of there alive, she won’t be picking either of you!” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Jesus Christ.”

On the other end of the phone, Emily was saying, “They are going to kill each other.”

“Not if Alionth gets to them first,” Deen joked. 

* * *

It was like one big nightmare. I felt like I was constantly in and out of consciousness, and I was having trouble remembering who I’d told what and how much they’d figured out since DeLeon opened his mouth. But the game was still on, and every time he cut the feed, he recorded me trying to convince him not to shoot one of the members. What that recording consisted of? Me saying as many shitty things about them as I could think of in five minutes. And I had to be convincing, because if he thought that I actually cared, then he’d shoot them. Hell knows what he planned on doing with those recordings (I mean I had a couple ideas, like ruining what was left of those relationships or holding them over me as leverage), but I was able to get Roman, JJ, Hotch, Derek, Deen, Niko, Rossi, and Emily off the hook so far. Luckily, Tara was working on some other case talking to some criminal, so I didn’t have to worry about her. But when it got to Penleope, I guess I just wasn’t convincing enough. 

But what bad thing could I possibly say about her? That she was the only person day one that didn’t judge me? That she was the reason I was on the team to begin with because she stood up for me? That even when I went to prison and could have been completely alone, she came to visit me? Even _after_ the rest of the team decided they were done with me?

I tried, I really did try, because I knew her life depended on my cruelty. But I failed. I failed at what I was supposed to be good at. And when I heard the gunshot go off, I felt like it was me who’d been shot. I saw her body crumple to the ground, and Hotch and Deen and Emily rush to her side. I saw them call the ambulance, and rush out of the room onto the street when they arrived so the paramedics didn’t know what else was going on. But I had to look away when they put her on that stretcher, with all of that blood, skillfully pressing on her chest, trying to preserve the life I’d just destroyed. 

I hadn’t even noticed the tears streaming down my face or the strangled cries coming from my chest when the little red light of the live feed turned back on. 

“Aww, do you have something you’d like to say?” DeLeon mocked. He reached up and unchained my arms which came swinging down like a wrecking ball. “Why don’t you look at the camera and tell the two people who care the most about her what you’ve done?”

I didn’t know exactly who he was talking about, one was most likely Derek and everyone cared a lot about her, but it honestly didn’t matter. They would all be mad at me anyways. I croaked, “She’s been shot. Penelope’s been shot. And I couldn’t stop it, I couldn’t prevent it. I’m so sorry.”

“Heartbreaking,” DeLeon deadpanned, “But now we’re down to two. Do you know who those two are?”

I did. I knew he was going down the list, as if he knew exactly how close my connections were with each person, saving the closest two for last. But I didn’t want to admit that.

“I know you do. You’ve been keeping track of them and releasing a sigh of relief every time I don’t say their name. Well, it’s time Aundreya. And you know what, I don’t even want to record these. I want you to look at their faces and tell them everything you hate about them. And then I want you to choose,” his voice was much harsher now, no longer sounding like he was enjoying this game as much as he was.

I looked up at the screens in front of me. The first showed Spencer, the second showed Mateo, and the third showed the room they were standing in with the others. I couldn’t do this. There was no way I could pull off hating them. Even if I did, I was sure he would shoot them anyways, definitely the one I chose, or whatever. 

DeLeon was getting impatient with my hesitation, “Start. Talking!”

But I didn’t. I couldn't. I would have to come up with something better. But I was running out of time. DeLeon walked over and unchained my legs, knowing I no longer had the strength to fight him. I didn’t even have the strength to stay standing. I collapsed to the floor, only barely catching myself on my hands and knees.

“Look at you. Some big, fearless leader you are now. Didn’t you tell me that you’d never get on your knees for me?”

“I’m still not. I will never be on my knees for _you_ , DeLeon,” I rasped. 

He grabbed me by my hair, forcing me to look up at him, “Now tell them all the things we know you’re really thinking.”

He dropped me back on the ground, and I knew I had to speak. DeLeon’s whole plan hinged on me being a cruel, heartless monster, who couldn’t care about anyone, and he was determined to keep it that way. So I might as well use that, and beat him at his own game. “If you’re after who I care about the most, or who I love so you can take an eye for an eye, it’s not going to work. I don’t love either of them, and not a single person working to help me right now. You think I’m capable of that? Capable of caring for another person, someone other than myself? Putting someone else’s needs above my own? Capable of loving _you_? I mean, did you really think we were ever in love?”

“Do not turn this on me,” DeLeon spat.

“Why not? That’s what this is about, right? The fact that you actually cared about me, but I had nothing but hate for you? The fact that the next person you were delusional enough to think loved you is dead because of me?” I pushed.

“I told you, you do not have _any_ right talking about her!” DeLeon screeched. I was getting to him. _This might actually work_. 

“Fine, then let’s keep talking about you. You’re just a sad little boy who’s never experienced love or compassion or empathy and is willing to cling to anyone and anything that shows you the slightest bit of attention. That’s why you went after me, right? Because there was no one else around that gave a damn, and even still you had to force me to-”

“Shut up!” His strength was wavering and it was obvious in his voice. His fist was at my cheek again, but I couldn’t pay attention to that. I was close.

“We’re the same. I’ve never learned any of that either, not from a single person in my life. Think about it! The first real passion of mine was hunting down and killing the man that destroyed my family. Then I went on to join a gang where it was kill or get killed. Not an ounce of sympathy and everyone was rock hard. Then I took over a gang and transformed it into a ring at the age of 19, and from then on out, everything revolved around me. I was the center of attention and everyone praised me, no matter how many times I fucked up and how many friends I got killed in the process. Even _after_ I went to prison, which was no cushy experience either and happened twice by the way, people were _still_ willing to scrub my feet. And after all of that, you think I’m in love with not one, but _two_ people?” I thought I had him right where I wanted him, fuming with both Mateo and Spencer off the hook. 

But instead, he turned back to talk into his phone and said, “Shoot them both.”

Before I could think, I yelled, “Don’t!”

DeLeon smirked at me as he turned around, “And why shouldn’t I?”

“Turn off the camera,” I commanded. DeLeon just looked at me, and he opened his mouth, probably to remind me that I don’t get to make commands, but I repeated, “Turn. It. _Off_.”

It must’ve been something in my gaze that compelled him to do what I asked, because he clicked the live feed off.

“You have 30 seconds.”

“You want to take an eye for an eye, right? Get back at me for Xena? Fine. Don’t shoot those two, instead let me carry out my deal with Archer,” I proposed.

“And why is that better than my plan?” Surprisingly, he sounded genuinely interested.

“Because in yours, you kill at least two, maybe three people I care about. In the other, you destroy my relationships with everyone. I pick the BAU over the ring, there goes the ring, and then I carry out my deal with Archer to kill the vice president and pin it on Aaron and there goes my relationship with them. My life is wrecked, my eternal unhappiness is guaranteed, and your goal is achieved.”

He seemed like he was actually contemplating my offer, his face scrunching up in thought. “How am I supposed to believe that you will go through with it this time? You couldn’t last time.”

It was a valid point, but I had to admit, “Because I’d rather my life be destroyed than theirs.”

I could barely look up at him from my position on the floor, trying to retain even a shred of dignity, but when I did, his hand was outstretched in my direction. I was so shocked that I just looked at it.

“It’s now or never,” DeLeon prompted. I shook his hand, sealing my fate as the wrecking ball that finally broke the BAU and the ring I started. He leaned over to whisper, “As long as you can survive until they come and get you.”

I recognized a second too late what was happening, not like I could’ve prevented it in my state. He yanked my shoulder out of my socket, turned me on my back, and rammed his foot into my back. It was all I could do not to scream as he dragged a blade across my back.

* * *

I wasn’t sure how long it’d been. Minutes, hours, days. But they found me. 

“Chambers. Chambers!” A male voice called out. I tried to respond, but all that came out was a groan. “Over there. Call the medics.”

I heard footsteps approaching me, and when they squatted down next to me, I tried to look up at them. The pain was so excruciating that I winced.

“Don’t move,” I could now tell it was Hotch who’d found me and he continued, “More help is on the way.”

“I can get up,” I insisted, moving to roll onto my side. Hotch gave me a stern look, about to argue but I pleaded, “Please, Aaron. I don’t want to be carried out on a stretcher like that.”

He knew what I was referencing and just gave me a small nod. “Dave, Deen, help me get her up.”

Rossi gave him a look, but Deen was not surprised. “Are you for real, Alionth?”

“Dead serious, Deen. You know me.” He smiled a bit at that, and the three of them helped me up. I could walk better than expected, but that could’ve just been because all three of them were practically carrying me. When we got outside, Niko, Mateo, Spencer, and Emily were all waiting. “Where is everyone else?”

“Morgan and JJ are with Garcia,” Hotch answered.

“And Roman is holding down the fort,” Deen added, “And Dalton and JT are at the hospital standing guard for Garcia.” I gave Deen a look. Usually he would send others, or ask me before doing that. He just shrugged and answered, “I figured you’d want that.” He wasn’t wrong, but neither was I.

My attention was turned back to the four people in front of me when both Mateo and Spencer approached me at the same time. “How are you feel-”

“Are you o-” They both started and then glared at each other. I wondered for a second what was wrong, until I remembered DeLeon making a comment about me having two boyfriends. And then them getting trapped in the same room together. _That could’ve worked out better._

I didn’t have the energy to talk to them or figure them out right now, so I just said, “We’ll talk later. But I’m okay, thank you. _Both_ of you.” Clearly that was the wrong thing to say, because I saw their faces scrunch up further. 

“Hey, how did you get him to leave and basically let you go?” Mateo asked.

“I can be very persuasive,” I mumbled.

“Aundreya, what did you do?” Spencer asked, concern and slight panic in his eyes.

“I got out alive,” I answer, “And hopefully got everyone _else_ out alive, too.”

“What did you-” he tried again.

“Stop. I did what I had to.” I couldn’t tell him about the deal I’d made and I certainly didn’t want to discuss it now.

There was a fire in Spencer’s eyes, “Why? Whatever you did, why would you? We were going to find you-”

“You would have died. Don’t you understand that? You _both_ would have died,” I glanced over at Mateo who was surprisingly quiet throughout this. I teared up, “I already cost Penelope … god knows what, and I wasn’t about to add more names to that list of mine.”

“Aundreya-”

I cut him off again, “No, Spencer. If you need to know, I did it because you have something to live for. I’m tired of you not being able to see that.” With that, I hobbled over the ambulance and sat down, waiting for them to shut the doors and take off.

When they didn’t, and everyone was looking at me expectantly, I looked to the nearest paramedic for an answer. She whispered, “If you want someone to accompany you…”

 _Oh. Great. I love decision making._ “Um, Mateo?” The moment his name was halfway out of my mouth, he was sitting next to me. I didn’t look for anyone’s reaction to that, and then the door clicked shut and we were on our way to the hospital. 

“Look I just wanted to-” we both started at the same time. I laughed and Mateo said, “Go ahead.”

“I just wanted to apologize to you,” I started. He looked bewildered as to why I’d need to apologize, but I kept going. “I’ve treated you unfairly. You’ve been here for me through everything, and I worry that sometimes you feel like I’m dismissing you.”

“No, Alionth, you could never-”

“I appreciate that, but I want to finish. When we started this, you offered just a little pushback, and I took it to the extreme. It wasn’t fair of me to threaten you like that, especially _with_ that. So I’m sorry. And just so you know, I’d rather go it alone than do that to you. To you _and_ Niko.”

“Thank you. I know you would never, but it’s nice to hear you say that,” he said softly, with a smile. 

“Okay, your turn,” I prompted.

“I just wanted to tell you that despite everything, I was glad to hear that you still consider us family and the place you belong.” He hesitated for a moment, so I looked up at him. He swallowed, “And I do still love you.”

My heart melted, and I tried to ignore the sound of shattering in my ears, thinking about how I would have to return to the BAU to finish what I started. But, he didn’t have to know that yet. All he had to know was how grateful I was for him. “Can I say it now?”

He laughed, “There’s no one here to stop you.”

“I love you too, Mateo.” For the first time in a long time, I saw tears well up in his eyes.

I reached up to brush them away, and he held my hand to him, “God, I just want to hug you or kiss you right now, but I don’t want to mess anything up.”

I laughed with him, giving myself a once over and realizing just how awful I looked. So instead, I leaned my head on his shoulder, and he delicately wrapped his arm around me. “Soon.”

* * *

It’d been three months, and I was healing quite well, considering everything. Everyone visited me, BAU and ring members alike. It was unfortunate to get a visit from DeLeon in the middle of the night, and I couldn’t believe I had to remind him that before I could get back to my agreement, I would actually have to heal from everything he’d done to me. He accepted this, but reminded me he was keeping an eye on me.

Penelope and I shared a hospital room, and as great as it was to see her, every time I looked over to all the machines she was hooked up to, I wanted to just curl up and cry. Which I’d done a few times, and when she caught me, I profusely apologized for everything and getting her involved in all of this. She reached her hand out to me and squeezed it, letting me know that she was alive and recovering. Sometimes, when I couldn’t sleep, I would just sit there and watch her breathe. It was comforting.

Deen visited the most. He started out sitting next to me, and then gradually moved closer and closer to Penelope each time he came. I tried to hide my amusement, but for as smooth as Deen could be, he was equally as awkward. It was actually funny, to see him floundering whenever she looked at him.

One night, when he thought we were both asleep, he sat at the foot of her bed and was doing what I was often doing, just watching her breathe and hearing the beeping of her heart. 

“What’re you doing here?” I asked. It was about 1am, and visiting hours were definitely over.

He looked at me, probably about to make up some excuse, but when he saw the look in my eyes and my smirk, he relented. “You know why. Even after everything that happened to you back there, I knew you knew the moment you looked at me like that.”

“You gave yourself away by putting _both_ JT _and_ Dalton outside her door,” I wiggled my eyebrows. He just sighed. “You really do like her, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do. She’s just so…” he trailed off, gesturing to her general figure.

I offered a small laugh, careful not to wake her, “Don’t I know it.” And I did know how it felt to be around her. Not only was she a literal tech genius, but in the dark line of work she was in, and the usual depressive state of everyone around her, her unfaltering light was enough to keep her as an asset to the team. It was no wonder that a man, used to working in a ring like mine, would be attracted to someone so pretty, and sweet, and smart as Penelope. 

“It’s never going to work, though,” Deen said, looking over at me.

“And why shouldn’t it?”

“Are you blind? Look at her. She’s … everything. What do I even have to offer her? More depressing news?” Deen huffed.

“Are _you_ blind? She’s been flirting with you this whole time. She has a unique way of going about that, like teasing you and pretending to ignore you and only every now and then making a passive aggressive, backhanded compliment, but she likes you, too. Trust me. And don’t degrade yourself. Sure, you’re not as smart as she is-”

“She reminds me of that frequently,” Deen said with a smile.

“None of us are. There is no one else like her, but Deen, you are smart, you are handsome, and you work hard. You’re a leader, and you’re the Penelope of our ring. When things get really dark, you do your best to keep it light. The two of you would be good together,” I finished. 

“Thank you, Alionth.”

“Always. Now you just have to build up the courage to ask her out when this is over.”

“I nearly choked when I saw her in her work attire, I think I’d have a heart attack and die if I saw her in a dress for a date,” Deen said, eyes getting wide.

“I’m sure you would,” I admitted.

After a while, Deen commented, “That was some pretty good acting, by the way.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Back when you were on that feed with DeLeon? All those things you said were all very convincing.”

“That wasn’t acting,” I sighed, and Deen's eyes whipped over to mine, “Actually, that was the first time I haven’t been acting.”

“Why? Why then?” Deen was inspecting me curiously.

“I just decided to stop hiding. It’s exhausting.”

“But you do still love them both, right?”

I contemplated that for a few seconds before responding, “I honestly wish I didn’t.” _It’d make all of our lives so much easier._

I didn’t have to expand, because Deen seemed to get the message. Somehow, he and I were always on the same page. For the rest of the night, Deen and I sat there thinking about what was to come and thanking our lucky stars that Penelope Garcia, and everyone else involved, was going to be okay. 


End file.
